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For the second time in just less than two years, a Scranton eye doctor who sought millions of dollars for injuries she allegedly suffered when struck by an oversized candy dispenser left empty-handed after a federal jury in New York found in favor of the defendants.

Mary Elizabeth Jordan Flickinger sought damages for excruciating pain she said she suffered ever since an M&M candy dispenser weighing about 25 pounds toppled from a display at a Toys R Us store in New York City on Oct. 26, 2008, striking her in the head.

In a verdict issued July 2, a federal jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., entirely rejected Dr. Flickinger's product liability claim against the company that erected the dispenser display at the Toys R Us store in New York City, said attorney Harry Brett of New York, who represented the defendants.

The decision is the second defeat for Dr. Flickinger, who also sought damages against Toys R Us in a separate federal lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania in 2010 by the law firm of Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn of Kingston. In a Sept. 28, 2011, ruling, a federal jury in Wilkes-Barre rejected her claims that employees at the store were negligent.

Dr. Flickinger also sought damages from M&M Mars Inc., the maker of M&M's. The court docket sheet shows an out-of-court settlement was reached with Mars in October 2012.

Generally speaking, a plaintiff is not permitted to try the same case twice, Mr. Brett said. Dr. Flickinger's case was permitted to proceed in New York because the second lawsuit sought damages from the company that erected the display - Trade Fixtures LLC, trading as Display Technologies of New York - whereas the first suit was against Toys R Us.

Dr. Flickinger, who practices at Northeastern Eye Institute in Scranton, alleged she was injured after she pulled a lever on a giant M&M candy dispenser display, which caused the display to fall forward and strike her in the head, snapping her neck backward.

Mr. Brett said his clients questioned the validity of Dr. Flickinger's claims, believing Dr. Flickinger and her husband, James, viewed the case "as an economic opportunity."

"It was entirely without merit," Mr. Brett said of the lawsuit. "The accident she described in both the first trial and this trial would have been impossible to occur the way she said it occurred."

Told of Mr. Brett's comments, Dr. Flickinger said she had expert testimony that supported her version of events. She said she believes she lost the case because it's very difficult to prove product liability under New York law.

"We had engineering experts to prove the validity of what happened with this horrible injury. To say someone's pain and suffering is meritless is an insult to all people and the court system in general," she said.

Dr. Flickinger said her only consolation is that the dispenser struck her, and not her two sons, who were with her. Her main objective was to see someone held responsible.

"This was not about any sort of dollar signs. This was about someone recognizing what they did to me was wrong and that it shouldn't happen to anyone else," she said. "Although the jury rendered the verdict, we know the truth of the matter and the pain and suffering that goes on."

It was not clear Monday whether Dr. Flickinger has any appeal options. Efforts to reach her attorney in the second lawsuit, Jay Dankner of Dankner & Milstein in New York, were unsuccessful.

Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com

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